Tommy Lynn Sells, a 35-year-old drifter who once rode railroads and worked in carnivals, is seen on Jan. 11, 2000, after he was arrested in Val Verde County near the Texas-Mexico border in Del Rio. Sells confessed to the attack of two girls near Del Rio, to the rape and slaying of a 13-year-old girl in Kentucky last May and to assorted other crimes in at least five additional states, according to investigators.

Tommy Lynn Sells (center) laughs with law enforcement officers after getting off a plane at Central Flying Service in Little Rock, Ark., on March 22, 2000. Sells was brought to Little Rock by Texas Rangers to talk to authorities about two murders he claims to have committed in Little Rock. The killings are among 13 that Tommy Lynn Sells says he carried out in seven states.

Tommy Lynn Sells (center) is escorted out of the Val Verde Justice Center by sheriff's officials on Sept. 12, 2000. Sells, who claims to have killed dozens of people, is on trial in Del Rio for the rape and murder of 13-year-old Kaylene Harris.

A Val Verde County law enforcement official opens the courthouse as Krystal Surles, 10, hugs her grandmother, Myrna Wright, on her way into the Val Verde County Justice Center on Sept. 12, 2000. Surles, who survived an attack by Sells, will testify against him in Sells' capital murder trial.

Photo: GLORIA FERNIZ, San Antonio Express-News

A Val Verde County law enforcement official opens the courthouse as...

A Val Verde County law enforcement official opens the courthouse as... Photo-5678938.77115 - SFGate

Image 6 of 14

Crystal Harris (left), mother of 13-year-old Kaylene Harris, who was killed by drifter Tommy Lynn Sells in December 1999, arrives at the Val Verde Justice Center on Sept. 12, 2000, for the capital murder trial of Sells.

Tommy Lynn Sells (center) is escorted into the Val Verde Justice Center by a sheriff's officer on Sept. 13, 2000. Sells, who claims to have killed dozens of people, is on trial in Del Rio for the rape and murder of 13-year-old Kaylene Harris.

Tommy Lynn Sells' victim Krystal Surles (right), 11, and Crystal Harris, mother of 13-year-old victim Kaylene Harris, share a happy moment as they leave the Val Verde Justice Center on Sept. 18, 2000, after hearing the guilty verdict in Sells' trial. The jury deliberated for a little more than an hour before finding Tommy Lynn Sells guilty of capital murder. Terry Harris, stepfather of Kaylene, is on the left. Sells was sentenced to death for Kaylene's December 1999 murder.

Bexar County Sheriff's deputies escort death row inmate Tommy Lynn Sells to the Bexar County Jail on Feb. 22, 2001. Sells, 36, was indicted Feb. 1 in the capital murder of 9-year-old Mary Bea Perez, who disappeared from San Antonio's Market Square during Fiesta in April 1999.

Death row inmate Tommy Lynn Sells talks with his newly appointed attorneys in the 379th courtroom on Feb. 27, 2001. His attorneys are Jay Norton (left) and Mike McCrum. Before he and Norton left to meet with Sells, McCrum called the crime his new client is accused of repulsive, but noted the importance of preserving Sells' constitutional rights. "We're here to ensure that Mr. Sells' rights are protected, " he said.

The family of Mary Bea Perez comfort each other as Tommy Lynn Sells pleads guilty to capital murder charges for strangling the 9 year old on Sept. 11, 2003, at the Bexar County Justice Center.
"She said, uh, 'Please don't hurt me no more. Don't hurt me no
more,'" Sells told an investigator, according to a police
statement. "That's when I choked her. Dead man leaves no tale."
The 17-minute hearing was the finale to San Antonio's connection
to a man who has laid claim to more than 70 slayings nationwide.

Photo: BAHRAM MARK SOBHANI, San Antonio Express-News

The family of Mary Bea Perez comfort each other as Tommy Lynn...

The family of Mary Bea Perez comfort each other as Tommy Lynn... Photo-5678932.77115 - SFGate

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This handout image provided by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice shows convicted killer Tommy Lynn Sells, who is scheduled to die Thursday, April 3, 2014.

Photo: Associated Press

This handout image provided by the Texas Department of Criminal...

This handout image provided by the Texas Department of Criminal... Photo-6115433.77115 - SFGate